Intertwined
by Princess of Radiance
Summary: Axel and Saïx join Sora, Riku, and Kairi on a jounrey through worlds both new and familiar to find the missing Keybearers Ventus and Aqua. and to defeat Master Xehanort once and for all. Sequel to A Second Twilight. T for light swearing/violence.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to _Intertwined_! Lots of friendshippy goodness is in here. Axel and Saïx are the most awesome snarktastic friends, and I can't wait to write Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

Enjoy!

* * *

When Axel and Saïx exited the corridor into Destiny Islands, the sun was just beginning to dip below the shoreline. 

"Well, we're here. Now what, o brilliant leader?"

Axel shrugged. "Dunno. Just…wander around until we run into Sora, I guess?"

Saïx rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes. That's a _fantastic_ idea. Let's do that, and risk running into Riku, who won't stop to ask questions before he kills us."

"Oh, yeah, and you have a better idea?"

Saïx turned towards the ocean, embarrassed. "No, not exactly. But-"

"Ha!" Axel crowed. "I have the only idea, for once! So mine it is!"

Saïx looked over towards the docks, and blinked.

"Actually…look."

Axel glanced over. "Kairi!"

The girl was sitting on the docks, dangling her feet over the edge. She didn't look very different from the last time they'd seen her, except for her clothes. She glanced back towards the mainland, then sighed and turned back to the water, whistling absentmindedly.

Saïx and Axel exchanged a look. "I guess she's waiting for the other two."

"I'm gonna go talk to her."

"But you _kidnapped _her."

"Yeah, so did you, bro."

Kairi looked up as they approached, a cheerful greeting on her lips. It died when she recognized the two men.

She gasped, jumping to her feet and summoning her Keyblade.

"You're from the Organization! But Sora beat them all- how are you here?"

Axel held his hands out. "Easy there, princess. We're not here to fight. We just want to talk, that's all."

Kairi wasn't convinced. "Uh-_huh._"

"Listen, really. I'm telling the truth- that doesn't happen often, I know, but this time I am. We gotta talk to Sora. It's important."

She raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Axel sighed. "We need his help. Well, not us- there are other people who need his help, and, well, we're helping too."

Kairi looked confused. "How do you know about that? King Mickey told us there were some people out there Sora needed to help, but I thought…"

"Three Keybearers? Yeah, we know."

"How?"

"Turns out Xemnas was one of 'em. Well, sort of."

She frowned, and dispelled her Keyblade. "Sort of? Look, I might believe you. _Might._ But either way, you're Nobodies."

"Really? We had no idea."

Kairi smiled softly. "You're gonna have to wait for Sora and Riku. They'll be here soon, so…"

"Kairi! Watch out!"

Two flashes of light from the side, and the two boys leapt in front of their friend, Keyblades at the ready.

Riku glared at the Nobodies, angry and confused.

"I have no idea how you're back, but if you even think about touching Kairi, you're dead."

Axel groaned. "Look, tough guy. I already told Kairi- we just. Want. To. Talk. Got it memorized?"

Sora blinked. "Axel?" He grinned. "Hey, it's you!"

He turned towards Riku. "Riku, it's okay. We can trust Axel. He helped me find Kairi."

Riku sighed. "Yeah, I know. He's Roxas's friend, too. I saw him pestering the guy in the Virtual Twilight Town."

Axel frowned. "I was _not_ pestering him."

Riku ignored it. "But the other guy…Sora, _he's_ the guy we need to worry about. He's Xemnas's second, remember?"

Sora's eyes widened. "What? You mean Saïx?"

Axel held up a hand. "Wait, wait, let me explain before you do anything stupid."

Saïx cut him off. "I can speak for myself, Axel. You're not the one they're worried about, anyway."

Axel nodded.

"Alright. I suppose I have to tell you the rest, too. Listen up, you three, this will take a while."

* * *

Sora, Riku and Kairi exchanged looks when Saïx finished.

"So…Terra was possessed by Xehanort, and now he's not, and the other two are missing?"

Axel nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. It was my idea to get you guys, 'cause I had a hunch you were connected to all of this crazy shit."

Sora laughed. "Well, sounds good to me! King Mickey already told us about the three Keybearers, and I was going to help anyways, but we had no idea where to start. You guys know way more than we do, though, so you can come along, Axel. Oh, Saïx, too."

"Thank you, Sora. I apologize for my previous behavior. I realize it was unac-"

Sora waved him off. "Nah, it's okay, don't worry about it. It was some parasite thing, right? It's not your fault."

"Thanks."

Kairi spoke up. "Hey guys. The gummi ship's ready to fly." She held up a control box. "Are we ready to go?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I put our supplies onboard yesterday."

The four boys walked to where she stood, and she tapped a button on the box. A blue glow lit up around them, and they were transported to the ship.

Axel looked around in awe. "Wow. I've never been on a gummi ship before…this is pretty damn impressive."

Sora laughed as he sat down at the controls. "Yeah, I know. I got this one from Donald and Goofy a while ago, and Cid fixed it up for me."

Axel looked shocked. "This is_ yours_? No way!"

Saïx chuckled. "Calm down, Axel. Of course Sora has one of his own. It's not like he can _walk_ to Radiant Garden."

"Oh, shaddup."

Everyone laughed, and Sora hit the throttle. In no time they were speeding through the Lanes Between.

"So, Axel. Is there anywhere specific we need to go?"

"Not really. I guess just any world where there's Darkness again."

"Okay. Um, lemme check."

He hit a few buttons on the control panel, and a world popped up on the viewscreen. Sora frowned.

"Wow…that_ is_ pretty bad. I guess we're heading to Halloweentown."


	2. Chapter 2

Hee hee. Enjoy the chapter! (and the CAMEOS :D)

* * *

The first thing they noticed when they landed in the copse of holiday-trees was the girl. 

She was sitting in front of the Christmastown tree, crying. She had long brown hair with a ribbon in it, and was wearing a flowing white dress that matched her little wings. A halo hovered slightly over her head. Sitting next to her was a small picnic basket with a bottle of champagne and some cloth-wrapped pastries.

Sora stepped forwards. "Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?"

The girl gasped and looked up, frightened.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sora, and these are Riku, Kairi, Axel and Saïx. Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you."

"Sora…you're from Halloweentown?"

Sora shook his head. "No, but I know Jack. Do you need help?"

She nodded. "I was supposed to meet him here, but…he hasn't come. He's never late…I'm frightened to go look for him- I've never been into town before…"

"Who, Jack?"

"No…not Jack. His name is Vincent. We've been meeting here for a while…"

Kairi smiled. "Oh, I see. Well, we'll go find him for you. What's your name?"

The girl smiled back. "Thank you. I'm Lucrecia."

* * *

It was only when they were halfway to the town square that the others besides Sora noticed their costumes.

Kairi gasped. "Oh! Sora, when did we get dressed up?"

Sora laughed. "The whole time. This world just does that." She smiled. "You make a cute witch, Kairi."

Kairi giggled. "Thanks."

She looked over at Riku. "And Riku makes for a very dashing zombie."

Riku frowned at her, touching the stitches on his cheek. "It's weird."

Sora grinned. "Aw, Riku, you look like Sally."

A yelp of shock from Axel made them all turn around.

The redhead was dressed as a devil- horn, tail, and all. "What the hell? I was never in costume here before!"

Sora shrugged. "Maybe it was the coat? I mean, you two _did_ take them off…"

Axel thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, probably. Makes sense. What about you, Saïx? Did you get a costume?"

"No, shut up."

They looked around, and he was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, come on. I won't laugh."

"You're _Axel._ Of course you'll laugh."

"Promise."

A dark blue-furred werewolf stepped embarrassedly out from behind a gravestone.

"Happy?"

Axel snorted, but quickly covered it up. "Yeah, it fits."

"Shut your face."

Kairi giggled. "Guys, shush. We still gotta help Lucrecia."

"Yes, mom."

After they finished laughing, they headed into town.

* * *

The square was mostly empty, save for a single figure sitting on the fountain. Sally.

Sora grinned and ran up. "Sally! How are you?"

"Oh, my! Sora! It's good to see you. What brings you here?"

Sora shrugged. "Just stopped by to see If there's anything weird going on."

Kairi piped up. "We met a girl in the woods named Lucrecia…she was looking for someone named Vincent. Do you know who he is?"

Sally looked over in surprise, then smiled. "Oh, is this Riku and Kairi? Sora's told us so much about you."

The two blushed, and Sora looked embarrassed. "Sally…"

Sally winked at Sora, then continued. "Yes, I know Vincent. He's one of Jack's assistants, he helps Jack with the Heartless and goes with him to the other holidays, to make sure they're all right," she laughed softly. "And to keep Jack out of trouble, of course.

"Vincent met Lucrecia when he was in Christmastown a few months ago. They fell in love immediately, and they've been meeting all the time in the woods."

Kairi smiled. "How sweet…"

Axel crossed his arms. "Okay, but where is he? The angel chick is seriously freaked."

Sally frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know. I haven't seen him for a few days now."

She gasped suddenly. "Oh! I just remembered. There is something rather strange going on, actually. Some people have noticed a strange man wandering around the graveyard recently…and he always appears just before some Heartless show up- peculiar Heartless; they even bother Jack. They aren't the good kind of scary, he says."

Saïx snorted. "Yes, I think that would be something we should know about."

Sally stood up. "He's also been seen speaking to a rival of Dr. Finklestein's…Dr. Hojo. He lives that way, in the old mansion on the hill." She pointed down a street. "It's straight up that way."

Sora nodded. "We'll go talk to him, then."


	3. Chapter 3

Uh, oh Hojo's involved! RUN SORA RUN!

Also, I wonder who the mysteryman is...

* * *

Before they headed to Dr. Hojo's mansion, Kairi turned to Sally.

"Sally, could you go get Lucrecia? I'm worried about her in the woods alone."

Sally nodded. "Okay, I will."

They got to the mansion rather quickly- Sally's direction's had been correct. It was a tall, imposing wooden-and-brick building, and several towers stretched to touch the harvest moon.

The five looked at each other, all willing one of the others to go knock on the door.

In the end, it was Axel who took up the challenge. Briskly striding to the door, he rapped on it three times.

"Yo, Dr. Hojo! Are you in?"

The door creaked open. "Who is it? I don't take kindly to being disturbed," wheezed a nasally voice from inside.

Sora stepped forwards. "I'm Sora, and my friends and I had a few questions to ask you…?"

The door opened fully. Dr. Hojo was a tall, lean skeleton of a man in a dirty lab coat and thick, grease-caked spectacles. He crossed his arms, unamused.

"Ask your questions, little boy."

Sora gulped. "Um, Sally mentioned that a lot of Heartless have been showing up around here recently, and-"

"Sally? Oh, that useless little ragdoll my…rival…created. Hmph. Finkelstein is a hack."

Sora fidgeted, and Riku took over. "Okay, yeah, but you still didn't answer his question."

Hojo snorted. "Pointless question that it is. I have not noticed any…Heartless, as you call those creature of Darkness. I have been in my labs working on a new…experiment, for the past few months."

Sora sighed. "Okay…"

They turned to go. Kairi hopped down the steps, turning back towards town square. "Let's head back and help find Vincent."

Hojo raised an eyebrow. "Vincent, you say? Hmm…"

Riku looked back over his shoulder. "You know him?"

Hojo didn't answer, but merely shut the door in their faces.

Axel huffed. "Asshole. He gives me the friggin' creeps."

Sora shivered. "You can say that again."

They started on their way back to town square. When they were almost there, they heard a scream.

"Sally!"

They dashed into town square to see Sally and Lucrecia standing on the steps of town hall, being surrounded by Heartless. But these Heartless were unusual…and much more frightening. Some of them looked like the floating magic-using Heartless, and some of them looked like Purebloods…but horrifically melded together in ways Sora didn't even want to think about.

Drawing his Keyblade and not waiting for the others to do the same, he leapt into battle. Kairi and Riku were soon beside him, swinging their Keyblades as well. Axel summoned his chakram, and Saïx leapt into the fray weaponless save for his claws.

Soon the chilling Heartless were gone, and Sora approached Sally and Lucrecia.

"Are you two okay?"

Sally smiled, and patted Lucrecia on the shoulder. "We're fine. She's a little shaken up, but she's not used to things like this."

Lucrecia nodded nervously. "I'll…I'll be alright, Sora. Thank you. Have you found Vincent?"

Sora shook his head. "No…" He turned to Sally. "We talked to Hojo. He said he didn't know what we were talking about."

Sally frowned. "He's not telling us something.  
"

Lucrecia looked worried. "Did you say Hojo? Do you mean Dr. Hojo? Vincent knew him…"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, he said something like that. How?"

"Vincent used to be Hojo's assistant. He helped him out with experiments, gathering ingredients for him, that kind of thing. But a few months ago, right around when the Heartless started appearing again and he began work with Jack, Dr. Hojo began to act strangely-"

"Stranger than normal? _Really?_"

"Hush, Axel."

Lucrecia smiled softly and continued. "Yes, stranger than usual. When that happened, Vincent stopped working for him, and offered his assistance to Jack."

Sora frowned. "Okay, so…all of this is connected. But how?"

Saïx started pacing, tail twitching in thought. "We have the strange man bringing Heartless, and Dr. Hojo acting strange, all around the same time. These Heartless are obviously not normal, and Hojo mentioned an experiment. And to top it all off, his former assistant is now missing. What does that all equal?"

Axel raised a hand. "Well, that's obvious. Hojo and Heartless-guy are working together to make freaky mutant Heartless."

Riku leaned against the fountain. "Yeah, we knew that much. But how does Vincent fit into all this?"

Kairi sat next to him. "I don't know. That's the one piece that doesn't add up."

Axel's eyes widened. "Unless…"

They all looked at each other in horror, having all come to the same conclusion.

"_No way…"_


End file.
